A/N: Beginning of Phase 4: Recovery. This will be the final phase of this story. I wasn't planning on it being as long as the other phases. But then sometimes plans have a way of taking on a life of there own. This story sure did.
Zim cradled his wife's body in the Walker's cockpit. It wouldn't close all the way with her inside. Wind pelted painfully within as the Walker red-lined it's fusion turbines once more. Then beyond the red-line. He was flying with one hand on a control stick as he gained altitude, the other wrapped around his beloved human. A crumpled picture was wedged in a corner as a remembered promise while he flew. One of a genetic construct depicting a young Irken-like girl with purple hair.
But Zim was focused. He wouldn't give up with out a fight. The telltales on the first aid scanner resting on her chest told a grim story. Deep tissue trauma from electrical burns, which had also cauterized the wounds. No heartbeat. Only a few quivers at best. He glanced at her dirty and bruised face. The emergency unit stuck onto her forehead and it's needle sunk into her skull. Very little blood leaked from the puncture, and head wounds were said to bleed a lot.
Zim's PAK raced like never before. The new base wasn't ready for human patients. None of the humans wanted to go to the Irken facilities. So they continued to go to the local doctors for minor things. There was no need to get it's medical bay ready for significant human casualties. And the Irken bio-technician knew next to nothing about humans. They could no doubt diagnose, but not really treat human organ damage. At least not in the time they had.
The local hospitals were praised on how they saved more patients than they killed. They were filthy, germ infested placed to go to develop further health complications. And that was judging by human standards. Not to mention their slow procedures to test everything in case they accidentally figured wrong and got sued by greedy lawyers. And that didn't even take into consideration the hour long wait filling out paperwork before one could be admitted.
His base had all the custom built gear Gaz would probably need. But it was damaged. He knew his base, and formulations had told him the ruin and cave-ins done to the access tubes leading into the underground sections. Access points were blocked off. Little Gir might be able to dig his way in, but anyone larger wouldn't in the time they had. Computer could repair it, but there wasn't enough time.
There was one place that had technology. It had to, given the fights they had in the past. Some of them hadn't been pretty. Zim angled his trajectory using data from his PAK. He eyed the damage indicators to one side. The fusion turbines were creeping well into the red now. Components suffering critical damage. Fuel dangerously low. Leg units structurally compromised. Another indicator showed two much larger craft catching up from behind, blaring Irken transponders of assault shuttles.
Zim pressed on harder, the cockpit rattling around him. Every microsecond counted now. And those shuttles had tractor beams. They wouldn't allow equipment failure to be fatal.
Alpha sat back in his seat. His own mind going. "Computer, there is no possible way this is going unnoticed. I hope you have paid attention to celebrity columns, because we are going to need an air tight cover story leaked to the media. Speaking of the media, when they get wind of this, the area is going to be swarming with news choppers." Alpha reached for his radio he preferred when sending orders to the humans on base. Old habits weren't easily shaken. Those not on the alert five slots would be ordered into crowd control gear and shuttled out to roadblock positions around the neighborhood. He didn't understand why, but it seemed Zim was taking Gaz home.
Echo opened his own communications system. "Air Traffic Control, this is Dingo Flight. Declaring an emergency."
"Roger that, Dingo Flight. State the nature of your emergency."
Echo pointed the nose of his aircraft down the short runway that covered Doomwind's berth. The other alert fighters taxied behind him. He understood group rage mentality after a sucker punch. Old words he had heard years before in his youth came back to mind. You are either with us, or against us.
"Traffic Control, we are launching an alert scramble. We are declaring the area a No-Fly Zone. Any aircraft entering will be escorted out. If they refuse we are libel to put them down."
"Uhhh… Copy that Dingo Flight. Iiiiiis there a particular reason today? And don't you kind of… I don't know… need authorization for that?"
Echo paused just before he hit the throttle. He had gotten some tidbits from Alpha over the private frequency. He didn't know how bad it was, but it was bad bad. "How about attempted murder of a foreign governor's wife for starters. We are going to secure the air space from any 'News' chopper that tries to feed intel on her condition. Or any getaway jet. As for my authorization, look it up in the Patriot Act. Or are you going to get in my way and help an enemy of the state?"
"Uhh, no sir! Of course not! We would never dream of such a thing. Controllers are now diverting all incoming flights to nearby cities. Airport security is being alerted as well."
Echo cut the channel with a dry humorless laugh. The Patriot Act was so full of legalese and doublespeak that he could probably argue in court that he could launch a nuclear strike on Pittsburgh by his own authority and have a fair chance of winning if he claimed national security.
But as he rammed the throttle home and his flight leaped into the air, he didn't find much funny right now.
"All right boys and girls. Crimson Two and Four. Orbit the following coordinates Computer is sending to your nav system. Dragon One and Five. Take the outer circle. Wives, you two are rookies, so go up top and run lookout for us with your sensor package. Villains, you're with me. We'll be the ones to tick off any news choppers.
Dib had random medical gear dragged up from the basement, with Tak talking on her communicator with Alpha. He didn't know what was needed, and it felt so inadequate. He had taken basic classes for treating his own injuries and had devised trauma kits when he had been younger. But his sister-
"I was right," Tak spoke up. "Zim is on his way here."
"My sister?" Dib asked, almost begging for her condition.
"I don't know, but it's not good," his Irken wife told him. "Nearly the whole base is in action right now."
"When will he get-" Dib was interrupted by a crash outside and the sound of rending metal plates. He rushed outside and stopped at the small doorstep porch.
The crumpled remains of an Irken Walker lay in a long trench crossing four front yards and ending within his own. It appeared to have landed on it's back to absorb most of the impact, skidding along and digging a deep furrow in the earth. Zim was rushing across the grass with Gaz's limp body in his arms, covered in some sort of crash foam which was flying off his frantic form. Two assault shuttles were just now touching down in the street, ramps flopping down.
"Dib! Dib!" Zim cried as he ran, unaware that he was without his disguise. "She's not breathing! Her heart!"
Dib just stared for a moment in shock, then snapped back to reality when Tak yelled at them both. "Get her inside!" She moved forward, barking commands at the small armored figures as they ran to establish a perimeter. Nothing was getting in that house.
Dib led the way inside, holding the door open as Zim rushed in carrying his beloved. The human plowed a clear spot on the cluttered floor and the Irken laid the lifeless girl on the carpet.
This was far worse than Dib could have imagined. Her clothes were soaked not only in water but hydraulic fluid, urine, and crash foam. There were bruises on her face and several minor cuts with two small holes in the center of her dress. Her eyes. Oh god! Her eyes were still open…vacant...
"Hurry, Dib!" Zim yelled, waving a first aid scanner over her chest injuries. "Deep third degree electrical burns. Puncture wounds. Oxygen count below sustaining levels and dropping fast."
"Can't you find anything useful?" Dib asked loudly.
"Not with this!" Zim growled in fear, tossing the instrument away. "It's not made for something this complex. It's not a surgical scanner! And there is no uplink to computer anyway! Everything I need in buried in my lab!"
Dib scrounged among the first aid gear he had brought up from the basement. One of his Dad's prototype medical probes! He grabbed it, and the nearby defibrillator. "Zim, open her shirt up! We need to see her wounds!"
Zim used one of his claws to quickly and without grace tear Gaz's dress down the middle. He opened the front flaps, exposing her bra and chest. But neither Dib nor Zim saw anything. There was so such thing as modesty or immodesty. No room for embarrassment, or discomfort at seeing what Gaz had kept covered up. Such things simply did not exist anymore, for their minds filtered everything out that did not involve life and death. There was only the injuries. A heart that needed to beat again, and lungs that needed to take in air. Everything else was on hold.
Dib tossed the probe scanner at Zim and began compressing Gaz's chest with his doubled up hands, trying to pump Gaz's blood for her. "Start probing those punctures."
Zim leaned in closer past Dib's bouncing compressions. He took the unfamiliar device and ran the ends around Dib's hands to the injuries.
"Zim, what did you put on her head?" Dib asked, looking at the strange and complex looking band with that needle running into her forehead.
"It's a last resort first aid thingy!" Zim told him, busy with trying to get a reading under Dib's compressions of his sister. "It injected simple nanites into her brain. Miniature oxygen generators. But they might have run out already."
Frustrated, Zim pushed Dib out of the way, and jammed the probe leads into the two punctures in Gaz's chest, widening the injuries and traces of blood oozed out. But that itself was frightening as there should have been far more bleeding. "Okay, Dib. Go!"
Dib resumed the compressions. "How long did they give her?" he asked, afraid it wasn't going to be enough.
"Three minutes. Maybe four. Now shut up!" The flight back had seemed to take an hour. Zim tried reading the device. "Agh! I can't make anything out of this." His mind was getting jumbled up again outside of the walker and at seeing Gaz like this.
"Hook up the defibrillator," Dib instructed in his edge of panic. "The directions are on the front." He looked at the medical probe now lying on the floor as Zim hooked up electrodes and sensor leads to Gaz's chest.
Dib scanned the readouts quickly. It seems his Dad had equipped the thing with a near complete medical library and analysis software so teachers and coaches could call in what was wrong as an ambulance drove to the scene, saving valuable minutes. It also gave them the current temperature in Hong Kong for some reason.
"Fire!" Zim warned as he pressed a button. Gaz's body jerked violently as Dib leaned back. A beep or two came from the device and then buzzed again.
Dib resumed compressions, reading what the device listed. "Zim, most of this is not terrible. Burns, deep muscle damage, small puncture of her right lung. But it's cauterized." He didn't mention a few fractured ribs from the CPR. "I'm guessing a minor skull fracture. But Zim, there is a lot of nerve damage in there. Oh jeez, Zim. The nerves leading to her heart. They're- They're gone!"
"Fire!" Zim called again.
Dib leaned back as Gaz's body jerked again. And again there was an unsteady beat or two, then nothing. Dib resumed compressions. They were running out of time before Gaz went into brain death.
"What do you mean gone?" Zim demanded.
"They're burned away with the surrounding tissue. Severed in places. Those don't regenerate, Zim! Those regulate her heartbeat!"
"Then get something to treat this!" Zim commanded the other human pumping away at his sister's chest.
"I can't! She needs a pacemaker. Something to send signals to her heart muscles when needed. Even if we get her heart going, she'll be passing out constantly whenever she tries to do something."
Dib looked down into his sister's unblinking eyes. Oh god. We're going to lose her… "Zim, only a hospital has them, and they have to put it in. It's major surgery. She doesn't have time to even get there, let alone put one in!"
Zim's mind spun. Then a spark of an idea came into being. "Buy time me some time, Dib!"
"What does it look like I'm trying to do?" Dib howled back at the Irken. "Grab that oxygen cylinder. Stick the hose into her nostril and turn the knob."
That can't possibly do anything, Dib thought. But he was compressing Gaz's ribcage pretty hard. There had to be at least some air mixing as her chest was compressed and then relaxed.
Zim did as Dib instructed, and then pulled out his communicator. "Gir! Gir! Get into my base. Retrieve bio-hazard storage unit one-six-three. Return it to my position in thirty seconds. Priority ZERO! Do you understand, Gir? Gazzy will die if you fail!"
"Priority Zero? That the hell is that?" Dib asked, stressed beyond belief.
"Nothing can override it," Zim stated. "He will do whatever is necessary, burn through any obstacle. Even an entire planet. You have home insurance, right?"
"Oh, jeez," Dib let loose as he continued his work. "Tak!" he screamed at the top of his lungs through the still open front door. "Gir's coming in! DON"T SHOOT HIM!"
Zim was now leaning over Gaz's head. Dib saw tears in his Irken eyes. "Zim can't lose you, Gaz-blossom. Hang on. Help is coming. Just don't leave me, my mate. Please don't leave me."
Dib stared at the sobbing Irken before him, pleading for a human life to return. How long has Gaz been down? Five minutes? Ten? Fifteen? Are we already too late? More irreplaceable seconds ticked by. Impossible to judge how many.
A cry came from outside. "Incoming!"
And a window burst into pieces, sending debris everywhere. Both Zim and Dib shielded Gaz with their bodies.
Gir stood there with Mimi behind him, eyes glowing red and surveying the scene. He tossed Zim a two foot square box, still in the original wrapping paper. "Mission complete, Master."
Zim grabbed the box like it was life itself. Perhaps it was. The robot was looking at the lifeless ruin of his Mistress as Tak stepped inside.
"Gir!" Zim yelled out again from the strain they were all under as he tore at the paper and opened the box to pull out packing material. "Coordinate with Computer. The men who did this. Find them. Find their associates. Find their partners. Do not let them escape. But do not harm them."
Gir saluted and rocketed back through the window, with Mimi following close behind. Tak's SIR unit was actually a bit concerned. Gir was still in duty mode. But it was more than that. More than even that Gir's Mistress had been struck down. Because SIR units did not technically get mad. But Gir?
Gir was absolutely, positively, utterly and royally pissed off.
Tak turned to the two breathing beings hunched over the body they were feverishly working to save. "Zim, why did you order-"
"Shut up!" Zim screeched. He finally got within the package. They had received it along with the smeet chamber in what seemed like half a lifetime ago from the Tallest. It was meant to be an insulting joke. But now?
Dib looked up from his work and gulped. Tak took in a breath. "Zim?-" they both exclaimed.
In Zim's hands was an inactive Irken PAK.
"Keep going!" Zim commanded Dib. "I need a few more minutes!"
Dib just stared along with his Irken wife as he pumped Gaz's chest. His arms were getting numb. Did Zim really mean to-
Zim pried open the PAK with a spider limb, tools popping into his hands from his own PAK. The Irken reached inside and small lights began to flicker within. Dib almost could imagine sweat pouring down his face. Zim occasionally snapped a snarl when a spark lit up and he jerked his hand out of the unit. Then he plunged back in. Complete concentration.
"Hurry, Zim. I don't think she will last much longer." She might already be gone-
Zim pulled something out of that PAK. A small, very tiny cube shaped chip. He threw it behind him, and rushed forward, pulling the main electrodes for the defibrillator off of Gaz.
"Turn her over!" Zim urged frantically.
Dib and Tak rapidly and roughly rolled Gaz's body over. Zim whipped out a spider limb from his PAK and brutally tore down the back of Gaz's dress with a hooked end. Her bra clasps snapped, the broken ends flipping away. The tear continued down to her waist.
Clothing was pulled out of the way, and Zim slapped the PAK into place. Tak held it there with one hand as Zim hooked it up to the defibrillator.
"Dib? You don't want to hear this," Zim spoke, pulling a cable from his own PAK, and bringing it around.
Zim didn't wait. He plugged the other end of the cable deep into the PAK resting on Gaz. "Fire!"
The Irken slammed a palm on the defibrillator, and it sent out it's maximum charge. The PAK on Gaz lit up briefly around the openings. Then it began to hum.
Dib would probably never forget those sounds. He didn't ever imagine sounds like that could ever come out of a human body. The PAK's connection fittings snapped to life, quickly probing, drilling and sinking into Gaz's back. Through skin, fat, muscle. Even bones that made up her spinal column. Those were the worst of all as anchor bolts drilled and set. Trails of blood oozed out from under that PAK as it worked. But perhaps it was a good thing that Gaz's heart wasn't beating. The blood loss would have been horrendous.
Oh crap- Dib thought. "She's going to bleed, Zim."
Zim wasn't responding, totally focused with his eyes closed.
Dib scavenged around until he found his emergency 'vampire/werewolf/Zim fight' medical kit. One he had put together just in case as he had grown up. He removed an IV line and a box of medication. Most of it was probably expired, but at this point what did they have to lose?
"Tak, I don't really know how to use these." He held up the IV bag and several small vials. Coagulants, morphine, antibiotics, antifungals, sedatives. He was torn now between losing his sister, the risk of an inadvertent overdose, and having her wake up to… that.
"I'll trade you," Tak said holding out some Irken syringe she had taken from her own PAK. It looked like a small pistol grip. She took the things in Dib's arms and put the device in his hands. "You seal up all her wounds with the biofoam. Computer will help me learn about using these."
She pulled out her communicator and moved to a corner of the room to concentrate. Dib leaned in on the body before him, sticking the end of that syringe into where that PAK met his sister's bare skin. He pulled the trigger and green foam expanded as he moved the device around, sealing the area. Gaz's chest wounds would have to wait as well at her forehead. Dib didn't know how to remove the nanite injector, and pulling something out of her brain without having a clue was just too dangerous.
At least the sounds had stopped. But he knew a bit about how a PAK worked. Hundreds of little tendrils would be worming their way through her vertebrae, up and down her spine and into her brain. Melding with it. But how much room could there be inside her spine? Wasn't it taken up with her own spinal cord? And what about the rest of her body? And her mind? Didn't a PAK-
"Zim? Is she still…-"
"Shhhhh!" Zim shushed, his eyes still closed and concentrating hard.
What seemed like forever passed by. They couldn't perform CPR anymore while Gaz lay face down. If her circulation still wasn't-
Tak came over and kneeled down next to her fretting human husband. She handed him the IV bag to hold over his sister while she ran the line to a vein on the top of her hand. It wasn't the best place, but the easiest, less risky place to insert the needle. Then she began administering medications into the solution according to the instructions she had received from Computer.
As she finished, she lay a hand on Dib's shoulder and leaned in to run one of her antenna into his hair. He stank of stress and fear, but he needed it. "Dib, it hasn't been as long as you think. It's cutting it close, but if this works-"
If. That word echoed in Dib's mind. "Tak, what about when she wakes up? Will she still be her? Don't the PAK's come with a-" he couldn't finish the sentence. The thought of an Irken Invader's mind wearing his sister's body like a set of clothes was too much for him to conceive.
Tak held something up. A small cube shaped chip. "You mean this? Zim took out the memory core. Gaz's PAK has only autonomic functions now. It will do what her body can no longer regulate." Dib looked at his wife. Her spider limbs reached out of her own PAK and crushed the personality chip.
The defibrillator's sensors were still attached to Gaz's chest underneath her body. The machine beeped. Another beep. A be-beep. Be-beep. Be-beep. Be-beep.
Gaz's ribs expanded as her body took a shallow breath. Then a slightly deeper one. Another. Deeper still.
Tak thumbed the little plastic controller on the IV line, setting it to wide open. Getting those medications into her bloodstream quickly as her heart pumped blood once more seemed important. They could be cut back to normal in a few minutes.
Zim opened his eyes again. He looked weary. Dib looked closer at the other Irken for the first time. He looked a mess too. His old style uniform had never been altered, but this one was a complete mess now. Covered in oils, stains. There were minor burn marks from when he had held and carried in his wife's wet body. Zim probably hadn't even noticed that he had been getting burned. And some of those stains were… biological in nature.
The rest of the universe slowly came back to them. The smell of burned flesh, traces of blood, urine, grime.
Dib glanced back and checked his sister's face. Her head was planted face first on the carpet, but not enough to suffocate. Her airways were clear. Her eyes. Those eyes were no longer open with death's stare, but closed in peace.
She wasn't suffering from pain.
Zim removed the cable he had plugged into Gaz's PAK, and it retracted back into his own. "Zim had to guide the instillation process. Modifications to the integration program needed to be made to control her vital functions. Zim was successful."
He pulled his communicator out of his PAK. "Computer, base status?"
"Repairs are commencing, Master. But it will take several days to create a shaft large enough to encompass Lady Gaz on a stretcher if she is coming here to the lab. A suitable cover story has been leaked to the media. The damage to the underground sections is minimal, but I am cut off. There is only one passageway large enough for Gir, and it is unstable. The surface level was nearly destroyed completely, but will be repaired. Surveillance drones are spreading out in the search, and several targets are being traced by the tracking dust you bombed them with. Lieutenant Bravo is on the scene of the…event. He has convinced local authorities to cordon off the area as it was an international incident. They have no wish to get involved with such Earth bureaucracy. You may proceed as you see fit. The bio-technician is loading up diagnostic equipment into a shuttle. It will arrive in approximately one hour. The wreckage outside the Membrane residence is being cleared now."
"Computer. Zim made Gaz-blossom a promise. It must be kept."
Dib looked at Tak. She looked back at her husband in return.
"I understand. I received the telemetry from the Walker."
"Zim must stay here with my Gaz-blossom. Zim cannot leave her."
"It was set up weeks ago, Master. It only needs a push of a button."
"Thank you, Computer. See that it gets done."
"Uh, Zim?" Dib queried. Then he stopped. Did Zim just thank his Computer?
Zim ignored the two who were watching him closely. He leaned over and spoke into Gaz's unconscious ear. "Zim does not understand why, Gaz-blossom. But he will fulfill his promise." Zim then made his own promise. "Zim knows the hurt you suffered from being left behind by your female parent. It will not be repeated."
If Computer had been biological, he could have been having a stroke at being thanked by Master Zim. But Computer did not dwell on this long for there was much work to be done. The object in question sat in a corner of the medical bay deep under Zim's base. Roughly four feet high, mostly a cylindrical tube filled with green fluid. Almost like a blender without the blades. It was a stand alone device. Internal power, support systems, monitoring capability. Computer could access the telemetry over a wireless link. But there was no direct hookup to Zim's base in any way.
A robotic arm came down from the ceiling and pressed a button on the device. Then retreated back into position. One task down, a thousand more to pursue.
The smeet chamber came to life.
Mr. Tinkles was dragged by two men into a room walled with fine wooden paneling. A man sat behind the elegant desk regarding the 'visitor' coldly. A TV hung on one wall, and an old record player sang soft classical music. Despite the tastefulness of the room, it was located in the back of an apartment building within the housing projects in the low end of town. Keeping a low profile unlike most of the mafia bosses and crime kingpins was a key to success.
'Nick the Slick' wasn't a big time crook. Or small time. Or much of anything that had a precise legal definition. He simply dabbled. Fence some high value stolen items here. Sponsor a raid on an ATM there. Arrange for transport of a shipment of hijacked laptops to Mexico. It could be said that he had his hands in a lot of things, but kept them 'clean' as he let others do the dirty work for him. Nothing seemed to stick to him. He simply took a cut for making arrangements. A business middleman.
And as such, he hated anything that drew attention. Attention meant risks to his business. He kept a low profile for a reason. Being unseen was good business. But that didn't mean he didn't have some muscle to back it up either.
"You screwed up, Tinkles," Nick coldly smiled, eyeing the dried stains on Mr. Tinkles pants. "You really screwed up."
Mr. Tinkles was on his knees, pushed there by the musclemen behind him. He was sweating. "You don't even know how far you stepped in it this time, do you?"
Tinkles tried to refute weakly. "But- but how were we supposed to know the guy would come in with a tank? The maniac killed-"
"Shut up." Nick the Slick ordered. "You didn't even think to check your target? Just some girl? And you thought it would be a good idea to use a bear tazer? Do you have any idea who you targeted? It's all over the freaking NEWS!"
Disgusted with the clueless and perplexed expression on Tinkle's face, the middleman picked up a remote and clicked on the TV. A recording of the late night news began to play.
"Today Professor Membrane's only daughter, Gazlene Membrane, was gunned down in an premeditated attack-"
Nick paused the recording, examining Tinkle's paling face. "That's right, the most powerful man on the face of the planet. The one guy who could send a hate-mail valentine back in time to your grandmother making sure you were never born? And you used a bear tazer on his daughter? She's barely out of high skool!"
He paused for a moment. "Oh, but it gets better." Nick could see the widening of Tinkle's eyes. He unpaused the recording.
"She was recently married into an undisclosed country's ruling family. We dragged several students out of bed for interviews. All confirmed rumors that she is recently pregnant, and is most likely the reason for her early graduation."
The TV paused again as Tinkle's eyes grew into saucers. "That's right, Tinkles!" Nick yelled. "You took twelve grown men and shot down the isolated seventeen year old pregnant daughter of Professor Membrane. Brand spanking new wife of some country's ruling family! She's freaking royalty, and probably carrying an heir to some throne! And you damn near murder her!"
Thoroughly disgusted, Nick unpaused the recording once more. "Military forces from the nearby embassy converged on the scene only after the daring single-handed rescue by her husband, leaving eight assassins dead, four cars destroyed. Property damage will be respected, and covered by the insurance company 'Irk & Sum.' Their number is provided below. However those who submit false claims will be extradited by the foreign ruling family and executed to the fullest extent of the law."
A number ran across the screen: 1-800-COM-PUTR
"Gaz Membrane was airlifted and escorted by military units into a No-Fly-Zone where she remains in critical condition. A release stated that if she survives, she will require portable life-support equipment for the rest of her days. No statement has been made on the condition of her unborn child."
Tinkles gulped. If there was one unwritten rule, it was this. You don't hurt little kids. Even the worst animals in prison had children. They… took offense to those who broke that rule. Some new inmates that were in for harming a child sometimes lasted as long as a week. Harm an unborn child? He might last an hour.
The TV kept playing. "We obtained these images from our news chopper while investigating where the girl was being treated."
The image switched to the camera view mounted along the outside of a news helicopter. It was growing dark, but the images were clear. So were the voices over the radio. There was a hovering military jet facing down the chopper. It was really close. So close you could see the pilot inside.
"I say again. This is Villain Two. You are violating restricted air space and transmitting intelligence data. Turn around at once or be found in violation of the Patriot Act and declared a hostile combatant."
"But- but we're covered by the First Amendment right of free speech! We have the right to force our way into other people's personal tragedy for ratings!"
"My Second Amendment right to bear arms trumps your First Amendment. Put down immediately or I exercise my right to put you down."
Tracer fire raced passed the chopper's side. The camera angle tilted crazily as the chopper veered off.
"When officials were asked about foreign military activity on American soil. They said 'It's about time someone cleaned up our streets. And we don't even have to pay for it!'
"In other news, a natural gas line exploded, destroying a unique house in the vicinity of-"
The TV clicked off.
"You know I don't like attention. You know I like a low profile. I don't like trouble on my doorstep."
Knuckles cracked.
"And you get me involved in AN INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT!"
"But that's not how it happened!"
"NO ONE CARES BECAUSE THEY ALREADY 'KNOW' WHAT HAPPENED."
Mr. Tinkles cringed.
Nick the Slick sat back in his leather chair. "I don't know you. You and I have never met. Understood? You are going to disappear. Leave town. I don't care where, but I'd suggest deep in the Amazon where no one has heard that illnesses aren't caused by demons. And I suggest your crew drive there. Very carefully. Otherwise my assistants Mr. Please and Mr. Thank-you will have to deal with the matter."
"Can I get changed first?" Mr. Tinkles asked in fear.
Nick thought for a moment. "No."
It was almost midnight, and Zim sat shirtless next to Gaz's bed in a wooden chair he had borrowed from her desk. He was wearing a set of Dib's shorts. But he didn't care. Gaz was what mattered. Dib and Tak stood, with an arm draped along each other's backside in their own robes behind him.
Gaz lay on her stomach half covered by her blanket with her face turned facing them, the fabric's edges bunched up around her sides along her front and over her arms. Her PAK, nude back and shoulders open to the air, allowing access for the cable leading from Gaz's PAK and trailing along to the portable maintenance unit sitting on the floor near the foot of the bed. It was not a full scale model, with limited capabilities. All it really could do was maintain a PAK without further wear and tear until a real maintenance unit could be reached.
The bio-technician had brought it in several hours ago, along with numerous scanners, probes, and surgical devices. He had gone to work replicating human medications that Dib had on hand and had been used on Gaz. Ones for sedation, anti-infection, pain relievers, and a few other things. Medical patches had been made and shipped in, and Gaz now wore several on her neck and throat.
While he had done that, Zim and Tak got busy with Gaz's second and more deliberate surgery, still on the living room floor due to the risk of moving her. The damage done to her back was extensive as humans weren't designed to fit a PAK, and the two Irkens had gone in with the smallest incisions possible to insert tiny robotic probing arms under her skin.
They had snaked in slowly and carefully, cauterizing as they went. Moving and reconnecting severed muscle fibers to fit around the PAK's anchor points now fused into Gaz's spine. Removing all the tiny splinters of bone that had been drilled away. Small slits had carefully been made along each of her vertebrae to avoid damaging any nerves running underneath, widening them and injecting fusing material into the gaps. The material would dissolve as Gaz's bones knitted back together. This had been done to increase the area available inside so that Gaz wouldn't be permanently paralyzed just from the pressure on her spinal cord. Right now the pressure was high anyway from her body's responses to her injuries.
Dib had stood back, trying not to watch as Zim and Tak blocked most of the view. But modifying Gaz's spine even with the smallest tools and incisions was not a small job. Even with cauterization techniques there had been a lot of bleeding coming from those small incisions, and bloody swabs of surgical gauze had routinely flown over the two Irken's shoulders.
But they had succeeded, and Gaz hadn't shown any indication of pain. The bio-technician had collected his things, and left back to the base to study the data that was collected. A plastic sheet from the basement had been sealed over the hole where Gir had burst through the window, and two armored Irkens stood guard outside it, along with the rest of the sixty surrounding the house to form a heavily armed living fence. Then a repulsion field lifter was brought in to move the unconscious girl, and the door closed behind the disguised Irken who had brought it in.
That was perhaps the first time Dib had consciously noticed the change in Zim. Not only had he refused all help, but he refused to do anything until Dib and Tak were up in their room with the door closed.
"Why wouldn't he let me help my sister?" Dib had asked, holding a garbage bag out to his Irken wife.
Tak dropped her bloody sleeved sweater into the bag and proceeded with the removal of her blood stained pants.
"I hate to say it, but I'm with Zim on this one."
Dib stared at his wife.
Tak dumped her sweat pants in to the garbage bag as well and went to retrieve her favorite nightie. "Let me put it in words your hormone addled brain can understand. Would you want Zim looking at me right now?"
Dib's mind didn't even need time to calculate a response. Not when Tak was holding her article of clothing rather than wearing it. The human didn't even want Zim seeing his wife wearing the nightie she was holding. "Heck no!"
Tak slipped into the light purple nightie, and went to the closet to search for a robe to wear over it. "Right now Zim feels the same way about his mate. The only one who can look upon her is Zim. Because Gaz is his mate now. In the fullest Irken sense. Not just his wife."
The Irken removed the robe and folded it over an arm. Then she walked over close to her human husband and looked at him in his eyes. Her own tearing as she recalled her own precious memory. "He is taking care of her, just like you took care of me when you found me on Dirt. There is no difference, except that they are already fully bonded. Is that wrong?"
They heard thumping from the direction of the bathroom as Gaz was hovered inside for cleaning.
"Besides, the only female you get to see naked is me. Otherwise there will be consequences."
Dib gave an instinctive shutter. He hadn't figured in his sister's tattered dress. Or other things. And he had every desire not to see his sister without clothing.
Dib sighed. Gaz and Zim had been married for a while now, but had been living more like they were just engaged as they had adjusted to their new lives. That had suited him just fine. Dib and Tak had taken the opposite route, and dove right in. But until now, Dib's big brother brain hadn't quite adjusted to the all the implications that Gaz's marriage implied. Not deep down anyway because it hadn't wanted to face it. Nor had it been forced to as Zim and Gaz lived as though they were at the end of the courtship stage, focused on building their relationship. But the truth was it wasn't his place anymore to look out for and take care of his sister. That was Zim's place now. Gaz didn't need her big brother. She needed her husband to be at her side. She needed her big brother to support that. Especially now.
Tak reached up and touched Dib's cheek, bring his thoughts back. "Dib, did you enjoy seeing me when you first bathed me on Dirt? I mean like you enjoy seeing me now as your mate."
No. That sight of a filthy, starved and broken Tak sitting in that pool of cleansing gel had pained his heart.
Tak saw the answer in his eyes. "Zim will be good to your sister. He is now just as bonded to her as I am to you. He'd die if it meant saving her. You saw what he did."
"No, I was here with you, and I don't think driving that thing put him at risk."
The Irken shook her head, and leaned in to wrap her arms around her human mate. "No. Not that. Zim interfaced with Gaz's PAK. Only Control Brains should do that. It's not just dangerous. Simply designing a PAK-to-PAK interface is a felony. Having one is treason. Zim actually used it. I could have reported him, and he knows it. Or something could have gone wrong with the interface and damaged his own. Yet he didn't even hesitate. It wasn't even a thought. But I can't imagine why Zim would have one."
Dib knew why. One time in the eighth grade Zim had thought he could hijack the internet with his PAK and control all Earth's machines. Of course he did not account for all the viruses on the net, and had all the appearances of being completely drunk off his keister for nearly a week. It had been so much fun watching that Dib had forgotten to take advantage of any opportunity it might have afforded.
Except of course when he had stumbled over to Gaz and told her that she wasn't "as hideous as all the other gross, revolting, pathetic, slack-jawed pig-smellies inhabiting this sickening planet." Gaz had just stomped on his foot and walked away. When Dib was going to pummel the alien, Gaz dragged her brother away and threatened that he should leave Zim alone. When Dib demanded an explanation of why she hadn't killed Zim or why he couldn't do it for her, she just shrugged and said "He gave me a complement without lying to my face like everybody else. You have to just know how to translate through his stupidity. Now get out of my light."
Dib looked at his wife. "I think I just realized that there was something between those two for a long time. I just didn't want to see it. I guess maybe they didn't either."
They were interrupted by Zim's cry. "Dib! Dib! Gaz-blossom has a stab wound! When did this happen!"
Dib rushed out of his room to the closed bathroom door. "Zim what's going on? Where was she stabbed?"
"There is a knife wound right between her legs!" Zim cried back. "I think it's an old one. But why did it not heal? What's wrong with her?"
Oh god! Dib thought, slapping his hand over his face. "Zim. That's supposed to be there. That's where smeets would come out."
"Oh," Zim said. There was a pause. "That's a stupid design. A smeet could just fall out as she walked!"
Dib just rolled his eyes. If there was one good thing about Zim and Gaz being together, it was that Dib didn't have to deal with someone looking at his sister wantonly. Zim was just too clueless. "Zim? While I'm here, I have a bag to throw those clothes away in." Tak came up from behind, and stuffed a bottle into his hand. "And a bottle of cleansing gel."
The door cracked open and a green three fingered hand stuck out, palm up. Dib noticed that Zim wasn't wearing any gloves. He put the bottle in his hand and it disappeared. The human held out the bag to the door. Green hands reappeared, dropping the ruined and torn remains of Gaz's dress, bra and soiled underwear into the bag. Then to Dib's unprepared mind, a set of gloves, a red invader shirt, black pants and two pairs of boots. Those were soiled and ruined too. Everything smelled of hydraulic fluid, alley grime, urine, and a few other things.
He's her husband, he's her husband, Dib's big brother brain chanted. But he felt like a huge hypocrite. He did a lot more with an Irken in that state of mutual undress than clean away contaminant. Then he felt guilty too. Because he enjoyed it when he and Tak were together, whereas seeing his wife's human body for the first time was probably the worst day of Zim's life. Dib's first time seeing Tak hadn't been, because she hadn't been his nearly deceased wife. How much worse would that have been?
So Dib told his big brother brain to grow up. Gaz needed her husband. Always would need him even if she was too proud to admit it. The husband/wife bond was sacred. If the bond between himself and Tak was something special, then so was the bond between Zim and his sister. The same wasn't true for a big brother. Not even close.
"Uh, Dib?" came a voice from behind the bathroom door. "Gaz-blossom is peeing on the floor. How often does this happen? And is Zim supposed to stand behind her with a bucket until she wakes up?"
The human looked behind him at his Irken wife, shocked. Gaz's body was expelling it's waste at Zim's feet, and he wasn't mentioning filth or disgust? It reminded him of when he and Tak flew away from Dirt in a tiny one-person ship with no bathroom. Tak hadn't been disgusted either when an Irken should have been. With his experiences in his own relationship with Tak, Dib understood the significance.
Zim's bonding cycle with Gaz was complete. His mind no longer distinguished her biology from his own. And he could take the best care of his sister. Stay up for days at a time. Never leave her side. But being Zim, he would also never give up. Never surrender. He may be stupid or clueless at times toward her, but he would never wrong her.
Once Dib had said that he would support their marriage. He probably hadn't understood what that truly meant until now. It wasn't an outward appearance. It wasn't just keeping his mouth shut. It was from the heart.
"It's all right, Zim. I'll take care of it when you are finished in there. Tak will stay here if you need anything while I run to the store to pick up things for Gaz."
And so they now maintained a vigil until late into the night. Gaz was cleaned up, but her back was completely covered in giant bruises and sealed incisions. Her head was bandaged and wore a large bicycle helmet to protect her skull fracture, her purple hair flowing from underneath. Her bonding necklace around her neck peeked out in places through her hair. Below the blankets Gaz wore only a diaper. With the PAK attached, Gaz's old clothes would no longer fit. And even if they could, her spine was in no condition to risk dressing her like a giant rag doll.
From her mouth were both air and feeding tubes that had been put in by his Dad's most trusted nurse from Membrane Labs. On the way back from picking up supplies Dib realized he had no idea how to install a feeding tube. He was going to impersonate his father when he called, but there seemed to be no need. The woman had asked no questions, or held any suspicions about the heavily armed picket line outside or the medical-related litter downstairs. She had a recent news story already in mind, and the Irkens in the house had been in disguise. The ones outside had been in heavy infantry armor with their polarized faceplates.
The nurse had given Zim instructions on caregiving, proper use of the feeding tube, ect. Then the nurse had color coded the tubes so there would be no mistakes as to which was for liquefied food and which was to protect her airway. Zim had rejected the risks of a catheter, and a tall stack of adult diapers sat in one corner. A box of baby wipes sat under a bed lamp on a stand next to Gaz's bed with a pair or rubber kitchen gloves.
They remained there for what seemed both an eternity and no time at all. Dib finally spoke up. "Zim? Let's take a break. Get something to eat. Tak, hun? Will you keep watch?"
Zim looked like he was going to object, but Tak spoke first. "You heard what the human nurse said, Zim. You need to take care of yourself too. You're no good to Gaz if you run yourself into the ground like an idiot."
Zim scowled at her, but kept silent. Dib motioned with his arm toward the door. "We won't go far. Just to the top of the stairs. Less than ten feet away."
The alien sighed and stood up out of the chair, following the human out of the room. Zim went to sit at the top of the stairs, looking down into the dark lower floor while Dib closed the door to Gaz's room and went into his own.
It was too dark to see anything downstairs, which was a good thing. No one had cleaned up yet and the living room carpet was littered with medical debris. Not to mention the stains and bloody gauzes were still there. Zim had no desire to see that mess, so he was a bit thankful for that much.
Dib walked up and sat down next to him. He handed his old nemesis an Irken snack pack from Tak's stash she kept in their bedroom. Then he held up a liquor bottle he raided from the mini-fridge in his Dad's perpetually vacant bedroom. "Don't say a word. There is just this one bottle in the whole house, and I think it's from back when Mom and Dad were first married. This bottle is probably older than I am."
Zim opened his snack box, and Dib cracked the seal on the bottle. Both helped themselves to their respective contents. The human sucked in a breath, trying not to cough. "Oh, that's terrible," he remarked through his teeth. "But after today, I think I could use some."
Zim said nothing, but ate. Dib took a few more swigs from the bottle. It was still awful.
"Bad day," Dib commented.
"Very bad day," Zim confirmed.
There was a few more minutes of silence.
"You've completed your bonding cycle with my sister."
Zim nodded.
"She'll get better. Gaz is a strong fighter. She won't give up."
Zim didn't say anything for a while. "In the alley, when Gaz-blossom's heart failed, she made Zim promise something. Before she lost consciousness, she asked me to make our simulated smeet real. Zim does not understand."
Dib nearly spit a swig of liquor out in a spray. He took in a breath and let it out, calming himself. He thought for a moment before responding. "Zim," he said quietly. "She didn't lose consciousness. Gaz died. She probably knew what was happening. But she was thinking of what would happen to you. Gaz has lived with me and Tak long enough to know things. She knows Tak won't outlive me by more than a few days. So she was probably thinking the same about you. She wanted you to keep going. She didn't want you to be alone and you would need some kind of bond to have any hope of living on."
Zim took a few more bites before speaking. "Gaz-blossom is a very smart human."
"That she is."
More silence.
"You did it. Didn't you?" Dib asked.
"The smeet chamber is going through the DNA structuring sequence now. Gaz-blossom donated an egg weeks ago. Zim kept it, my skin sample, and the coding stored in the smeet chamber's system. It has it's own systems and safety backups. Zim nor Gaz-blossom wanted something to happen to it."
Dib didn't know what to say. He had known earlier that they had talked at least a little about kids someday. He just hadn't realized how serious Gaz had been about it. Let alone that his sister had actually donated one of her eggs.
"But Zim did not follow Gaz's wishes. She had already decided that she wanted to carry the smeet like a human would. Gaz-blossom did not want to use the smeet chamber."
The human sighed. Perhaps Zim was a bit insecure like Tak could be at times. A human relationship could fall apart. An Irken's bond couldn't. "You did as you were asked. Gaz will understand."
"Dib, if Gaz-blossom does not survive, neither will Zim. Zim may wither away like Gaz-blossom or become unstable and deteriorate as he hunts down those responsible until he is no longer functional."
The human felt a momentary twinge of anxiety until his brain caught up. Wait. He's not saying-
"If we do not survive, our smeet will need someone to raise her."
They had briefly talked about this before on occasion. But only as a theoretical illustration. It wasn't theoretical any more. And Zim was asking him. Not another Irken on the new base.
Dib felt like a bit like a heel about earlier tonight when Zim was alone with his sister, cleaning her and taking care of her as a caring husband. Now the Irken beside him was looking after his family.
Dib was Gaz's big brother. But it was long overdue to start being a brother-in-law.
He put a hand on the Irken's shoulder. "Zim, she'll make it. You'll see."
The human removed the hand before Zim could shove it aside. He took a deep breath. "Zim, it's really late and we all should get some sleep. You look like you haven't had any for a week."
"Zim can't leave his Gaz-blossom. And he won't share a maintenance unit with Tak."
Dib sighed, screwing the cap on the liquor bottle. "Tak went for seven years without maintenance, but I don't think she was awake the whole time." Oh god, please don't make me tell Zim to crawl into bed with my naked sister!
"Zim's hammock is buried in his base. It can't be retrieved tonight," Zim told the big brother. "And Zim does not wish to sleep away from Gaz-blossom."
Curse your cluelessness! Dib thought. He unscrewed the cap of the bottle and took a very large swig, gulping it down and screwing the cap back on. He took several deep breaths.
"Zim, this talk is probably going to make us both want to throw up," Dib began. "Your Gaz's mate. Your place is by her side. Even in sleep. Gaz needs you, her husband. She may be sedated, or maybe a mild coma, but her subconscious is still aware on some level. She'll know if her husband is with her. She'll know on some level if you hold her. Maybe it will cause her to feel safe inside. My place is along side Tak. We always sleep together. We take comfort in that, and we've had scares too. We almost lost someone like you did today. Tak and I need each other. And you and Gaz need each other now."
He took another deep breath. "Gaz didn't just want to have smeets. She didn't just want to have smeets sharing your DNA. She wanted to bear your children. To actually have them grow inside her and give birth to them like a mother is suppose to. Zim, you're her mate just as much as she is yours. Your place is in her bed along side your mate. To pull the blankets off when she's too hot and warm her with your arms when she's too cold because she can't do it herself."
Apparently Dib was on a roll because he couldn't stop himself. Maybe he was speaking for his little sister who couldn't speak for herself right now.
"When she wakes up, she's going to find out that there is someone growing in your base who will be calling her 'Mommy.' She just experienced her own murder, Zim! That's going to affect her! She'll know that even she can run out of tomorrows. And I know a little something about expecting a kid, Zim. Everything about today will start her thinking and a lot about putting things off. She's a wife and now will face becoming a mother, and she hasn't even moved in with her husband yet! Gaz will go from glacier slow to lightning fast. She will need you and you have to be ready for that.
"Gosh, Zim! You don't even know what being a mate really means. But you will, because Gaz will be ready sooner rather than later. She's been giving Tak and I a hard time about our mating habits, but I think that's because she didn't want to think about it yet. But now she knows the cost of putting things off, and when she decides it's time it will be you, Zim, that she mates with. Only then will you understand what being a mate truly means."
Zim was looking at him with large Irken eyes and trembling antennae.
"And you know what? Deep down you know that. I see you've already changed today. You don't want anyone seeing your mate's body. That's your territory as her mate. Tak and I are the same way about each other."
Dib finally ran out of steam. He took several breaths. "Oh, that was horrible."
Zim didn't say anything. He looked lost. Dib actually felt a bit sorry for his Irken brother-in-law. A surprising feeling.
"Zim. You and Gaz, Tak and I? We're all in the same boat. We're having kids. Starting families." He let out a deep sigh. "Gaz didn't want to know about Tak and I mating. We don't want to know about you and Gaz's habits either. Deal?" Zim just nodded.
There was silence.
"So," Dib said breaking the silence. "How does it feel now that you're going to be a dad?"
"Zim does not know."
Dib actually chuckled at that. "I've been there. It will get better."
He slapped the Irken's knee. Somehow he didn't seem so threatening anymore. Dangerous, yes. But not so threatening. Maybe because 'Invader' Zim had not just married a human, loved a human, needed a human, had been all out desperate to save his human mate, but had fathered a child with a human. Albeit in a mad scientist sort of way. But having a baby changes everything. "Come on, Zim. It's been a long, terrible day. We all could use some sleep."
Dib got up. "One thing I've learned being married to Tak. Sleeping with an Irken is actually quite nice. I think Gaz will agree." He held out a hand to help Zim on his feet. From the expression on his face, it looked like he could use it.
Zim took the hand, and got to his feet. "You don't hate Zim? Wish him on an autopsy table?"
That comment pained Dib. "I was wrong to want that, Zim. I should have just wanted Earth safe. You saved Gaz, Zim. And from what I understand this wasn't the first time. I may not like you, but I don't think we can afford to hate each other anymore. Gaz and the girls come first."
"Yes," Zim said quietly. "Gaz and smeets come first."
They stood there regarding one another for a moment. "You know Zim must respond to this assault."
"I know. Gaz would too. Are you going to try to destroy or enslave mankind? Wreck the planet?"
"No. Zim cannot betray his mate. Zim's mission is to protect her homeworld and to not interfere. But that does not mean Zim cannot do some pest control."
"I know Zim. Just try not to go crazy. Or hurt innocent people. Humans tried to help Gaz today too. Not just Irkens. Keep that in mind."
The two turned to head back to the bedrooms. "Zim, you know Gaz was scary before. With a PAK she is going to be scary as hell."
Tinkles and his three surviving crew drove south along the empty highway through the darkness. The single car of their 'escort' followed their older model sedan out to the city limits. Everyone was silent, traumatized by their experience. They had only been out for a quick score without any fuss. Not to really hurt anyone. They didn't understand how things could have gone so wrong.
They passed a sign telling them to come back soon.
A brief flash in the corner of his eye caught Tinkle's attention. He turned to look in his door mirror, then the rear view mirror.
A lurch lifted the rear of the car up off the road, and the men inside were flung forward in their seatbelts as their speed quickly dropped to nothing. The car following behind swerved around them, spinning several times before coming to a halt further ahead.
The men and Mr. Tinkles looked around bewildered. He looked at the door mirror again. Something was holding the rear tires up off the ground. His foot was jammed on the gas pedal, but they weren't moving.
Tinkles saw a small red eyed robot with an oversized right arm holding the crunched rear of the car off the ground, it's tires spinning uselessly. There was a thunk from the front of the car. All the men faced forward.
Standing on the hood was an angry looking robot with burning red eyes. It punched through the hood of the car with both arms, grabbed hold, and ripped the entire engine out though the hood! It held the large motor over it's head as it sputtered and died, leaking fluids everywhere. Then the robot threw it across the road and into the ditch.
It had never taken its red eyes off the men inside the car the entire time.
Then the robots were gone, and the dead car bounced back on all four wheels.
The doors on the other car opened, and two figures ran forward. Tinkles looked at the remnants of his crew and they looked back. They were all thinking the same thing. Someone knew exactly who they were, was tracking them, and they were not going to be allowed to slip away. But the most harrowing thing had been the non-verbal message that angry robot had beamed into their souls in it's actions and expression. What I'm doing to this car is what I wish I was doing to you. You will not be allowed to escape.
All the men inside were reflecting how their hammering hearts were still in their ribcages. At least for now.
The driver of the escort vehicle stopped beside the ruined car. He was talking on his cell phone. "Sir? We've got a big problem. Ambushed right at the city limits. Unfortunately no, they are unharmed. I'll take them back to a safe house until you decide how to handle this, but I would suggest you have them dumped out in front of the police station and dust your hands of the whole thing. Yes, sir. I will do so right away."
Tak and Dib had headed off to bed holding hands. Zim stayed in Gaz's room. There were medieval maces on the wall in places. Game posters. Shelves of her dormant security dolls. Her desk and chair in one corner. But pictures of Zim and herself had started to be placed up as well. He had spent the night here once, resting in his hammock hanging in her closet. But this time it would be different.
Zim checked her IV line delivering fluids, medication patches along her throat and neck, her breathing tube. He checked to see if her diaper needed changing. He checked her skin temperature with his hand gently.
All of it would be fine until morning. Zim leaned over and with his arms and a pair of his spider limbs pulled the bottom blanket Gaz lay on to slide her over without jostling her, making room on a bed designed for one. The plastic sheeting that had been laid underneath for some reason made the effort much easier, but it was still awkward.
Zim sighed and, feet dragging, still only wearing a pair of Dib's summer shorts, closed the bedroom door and turned out the light. He made his way back in the darkness and slid under the covers next to his wife.
Wearing a PAK meant laying on one's back on a flat surface was unpleasant at best. So Zim positioned himself facing Gaz's unconscious body, drawing himself close to keep her warm. He wrapped his Irken arm across her bare human shoulders above her PAK, pulling himself closer still, and bringing his face close to hers in the darkness.
"Gaz-blossom. Zim does not know if a part of you can hear me. What we had to do to save your life caused extensive injury. But you can get better. Zim will take care of you. Gaz-blossom, all you have to do is lie there and heal. Zim will warm you, feed you, carry away your waste when you me need to. Zim is here with you in your own bed. You're not alone, Gaz-blossom. Just focus on getting better. Zim will do the rest for his mate. You are my mate, Gaz-blossom. My mate. Zim will never leave you. Please don't leave me. Please come back to Zim."
Zim lay snuggled in with Gaz, the blankets pulled up to their PAKs, not knowing what else to say or do. There was a click sound, followed by a nearly silent and brief whir. Zim felt something drape across his lower back below his PAK.
The Irken was now on his own belly, fumbling with his other arm while keeping his right one protectively over Gaz's shoulders, reaching for the bed lamp on the small table next to the headboard. He managed to hit the switch after a few attempts and looked down behind him. What he saw caused the Irken to shed tears of relief.
Gaz was still unconscious, her body temporarily paralyzed. So she hadn't moved or made a sound beyond her steady breathing. But a port in Gaz's PAK was open, and one of her new cybernetic spider limbs was peeking out, just enough to rest on her husband in comfort. Reaching out to her mate beside her.
Somewhere deep within her subconscious mind, some slumbering part of Gaz had heard. Could access her PAK enough to send a response.
In silent tears, Zim reached down and helped Gaz's spider limb find a seemingly restful position around his middle, and intertwined his Irken arm around her limp human one, holding her hand. Zim opened his own PAK and carefully extended a spider limb out around Gaz in return. Soon, Zim joined his wife in sleep, holding each other.